Volunteer Opportunities

Here is a list of sites where you can find a number of different volunteer opportunities in Hong Kong, including

Teenage Volunteers needed for AFHK Picnic – Adoptive Families of Hong Kong (AFHK) is a non-profit volunteer-run charitable organisation made up of people connected by the common experience of adoption. Give the AFHK team members a hand at their annual picnic.

Adoptive Families of Hong Kong (AFHK) – Adoptive Families of Hong Kong (AFHK) is a non-profit volunteer-run charitable organisation made up of people connected by the common experience of adoption. AFHK is looking for Adult Adoptee Coordinatores, Children and Families Events Coordinator, Translator (Cantonese), and Copy Writer.

The Child Development Centre – provides tailored early intervention for all children with developmental or special educational needs delivered by a dedicated team of skilled professionals. Volunteer interpreters are needed in the English programmes to help with meeting families and from time-to-time with written translation.

Children’s Heart Foundation – help children suffering from congenital heart diseases by providing childrens’ services including story-telling, ward/home visit, tuition and helping at children’s outings, help organize large scale fundraising events and with back-up work at the CHF office

China Coast Community – Care home for English-speaking elderly residents requiring volunteers to help with days out, craft workshops and professional services such as hairdressing and physical therapy.

Christian Action – Christian Action provides pro-bono legal and psychosocial help; offers abused domestic helpers refuge in safe shelters and provides a wide range of other services. Christian Action offers a variety of opportunities for you to be involved in their programs.

The Conservancy Association – seeking volunteers to help with clerical work, fundraising, green activities, IT support, recruitment, and design

Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden – help protect Hong Kong and Mainland China’s biodiversity while motivating people to act to care for our natural environment by devoting some time to environmental education and conservation, helping in various types of education programmes and to, generally assist with outdoor work.

Kely Support Group – Looking for volunteers to help KELY’s programme planning and implementation, workshops, hotline services, events implementation as well as their administrative work.

Riding for the Disabled – RDA runs weekly horse riding lessons for disabled children and adults, operating out of Jockey Club riding schools in Pokfulam, Tuen Mun and Sheung Shui. The RDA welcomes volunteers of any age or background. Riding experience or knowledge of horses is an advantage, but is not essential. In fact, training is provided. The group needs volunteers to help with riding lessons, but also behind the scenes on the administrative side.

Ronald McDonald House – volunteer at the Ronald McDonald House as a weekly volunteer, housekeeping volunteer, relief volunteer, editor, in fundraising and special events. Volunteers should be aged 16 years old and above.

Sedan Chair Charities Fund – organiser of the annual Sedan Chair Race seeks volunteers to help with general administration, volunteers during the race including: timekeepers, race marshal, crowd control etc., and bazaar volunteers

SPCA – Volunteers welcome to help with a range of work including dog walking, animal care support, humane education, kennel keepers and to help find permanent homes for the animals.

UNHCR – clerical support, translation, writing, editing and design work that you can work at home, assist in event activities, and provide the UNHCR with your professional advice in public relations or co-organise event for the UNHCR

Very Hong Kong – A different kind of volunteering. If you like organizing parties, events in unconventional spaces, this one is for you. Very Hong Kong is the city’s first independent, annual programme with a mix of community-founded arts, culture, food, lifestyle, sport and design events, held in various public spaces in the city.

The Warehouse Teenage Club – Are you interested in supporting youth development? The Warehouse Teenage Club needs volunteers to help with programme implementation, office work, design, public relations and IT technical support.

World Cancer Research Fund Hong Kong – help raise cancer awareness by volunteering at fundraising events, distributing promotion materials or helping with office administration work

Yes depends on the organisation and the task at hand. Hong Kong Dog Rescue takes teenagers 16 or older as dog walkers for example, as does Ronals McDonald House. People’s Food Bank welcomes children and teenagers. So choices are there

Thank you for your interest in volunteering. Whether they require a Cantonese speaker would depend on the nature of the volunteer work required. Outreach into the community for example would need someone who spoke Cantonese, but a dog walker would not need to speak Cantonese. Look through the list and see whether there are any volunteer opportunities listed that interested you, my suggestion would be to reach out to the organisations directly and ask. There are always links directly to their websites from each blog page.

Most volunteer opportunities for teens generally ask for those ages 16 or older. The most common volunteer opportunity open to younger kids would be flag day appeals. Many charities in Hong Kong raise money by selling flags on a designated Saturday each day. It does take a bit of research to find charities you would like to support and to reach out to them. Good luck!

You can try the Kids4Kids Buddy Reading volunteer and service learning program. Please go to http://www.kids4kids.org.hk and find out more yourself. Kids aged 8+ and even university students are joining this program to not only service the underprivileged but to also learn from the process – becoming a more engaged citizen and also brushing up their own presentation and social skills.

My son (15, HK Passport) needs to broaden his perspectives and see what is the real life of poor people in Hong Kong. He is fluent English and learning Mandarin. What organizations could offer opportunities at this age?

http://www.soapcycling.org/ is another good one to check out. They allow older children and teens. They take leftover soap from hotels and turn it into usable soap for needy people who have sanitation issues and are in need of soap.

To be frank Gary, I don’t know. Most organisations listed here require some sort of time commitment from their volunteers. You may want to look at the opportunities on the Hands On site to see whether there is something on their current volunteer opportunity listing that may suit your time frame.

Hi, im a domestic helper here in hk for nearly six years, i want to do something valuable and extend a hand to used my day off to help by volunteering. elderly care, story telling with impaired kids are one of my special field…but i have to ask this first..does domestic helpers allowed to do volunteer works? Thank you and God bless.

Volunteer work is not employment. As far as I am aware, anyone can volunteer. Most organisations looking for volunteers will have their own set of requirements. It is best that you reach out to the ones that you would like to volunteer for and ask them directly. Good luck!

I’m a UK resident visiting HK for the summer. I have roughly three weeks left of my trip and would like to fill the time up volunteering. Do you think organisations would take on a short term volunteer?

Welcome to Hong Kong. There could be volunteer opportunities available. Check the the Hands On website to see whether there are any current volunteer opportunities still open and get in touch with them directly.http://handsonhongkong.org/en/latest-opportunities

My husband and I want to do volunteer work during our leisure time. Meanwhile , we would like to take the opportunity to improve our English. May I know which choice will be suitable for our situation? Thanks.

That’s an interesting question. If you want to use a volunteer opportunity to improve your English my suggesting would be to volunteer for organisations that are run by expats or serve expats. The China Coast Community for example provides residential care for English speaking elderly persons. Or you can look at Crossroads which was founded by Malcolm Begbie, a chartered accountant and Sally Begbie, a PR consultant. They sort donated goods and ship them to countries that need them. Good luck!

Thanks a lot for your advice. It is very helpful for us as we are struggling whether we should spend our leisure time to learn English or to be volunteers. With your suggestion, we can not only practise our English but also help the needy. We will give it a try definitely. Thanks!

I am an English speaking early childhood teacher who would like to volunteer my free time to help, support & encourage sick children in hospital. As I speak very little Cantonese I am having a bit of difficulty finding a place.
Please can you give me some advice?
With many thanks,
Kate

That is a difficult one. Hong Kong is a predominantly Chinese territory. Hospitals naturally prefer Chinese speakers so as not to frighten the children in their care. You might want to take a look at the Mathilda Child Development Centre (http://cdchk.org/) or Mother’s Choice (http://www.motherschoice.org/en/) and see whether they are looking for volunteers with your training. Best of luck!

Hi, I run http://www.pinworld.co where we teach kids about value of money, entrepreneurship etc. One of the initiatives we have is Pinancle’s Piggy Bank Club – they can join by by collecting any used tin, decorating it and using to collect for a cause they believe in.Hope some parents here find it useful.

Hi,
I like spending some time with some elderly women, chatting, shopping…Is there any organization where I can give some time to elderly ? Don’t want to be in any medical stuff, and care necessarily, and let some elderly be less lonely during week time.
Thanks.

I’m 18 and speak fluent in english and cantonese, perhaps a little bit of mandarin as well. Currently looking for a residential activity which in this case– volunteering, by means places provided during the time I’ll be volunteering, for at least 5 days 4 nights as one of the tasks I have to complete for my Gold Duke of Edinburgh award. Any suggestions?

I’m 18, a foreign college student who is going to be in Hong Kong for two months in the summer, my aunt lives there with a work visa. I am going to take an intensive French course at the Alliance Francaise and I am looking for volunteer opportunities so that I have something else to do to fill my time for the two months I’m there. The question is, can a foreigner without a HK ID volunteer there? And I don’t speak cantonese too so I was wondering if there are any English speaking organizations I can volunteer in.

My friend and I are both 16/17 this coming summer and we were thinking of going to hong kong this summer. I’m originally from HK and I know basic cantonese but my friend only speaks english. Are there any short term volunteer opportunities for english speaking youths?

Hi and thank you sincerely for taking the time to create this valuable website as a great resource. I noticed that quite a few ‘volunteers’ asked whether there were opportunities for english speaking only roles. The responses to this question seem to be that there are limited opportunities available of which dog walking seemed to be the most common suggestion. Is there a chance that we can find more opportunities as a non-cantonese speakers to give back to the community and enrich lives everywhere? Again, many thanks for your excellent service to the community. .

Hong Kong is a Chinese territory, where speaking Chinese is vital for communication with the clients non profits are involved in order to ensure their comfort. Yes there are English speaking roles including working with expat elderly at the China Coast Community, giving English tutoring (Hands On lists these frequently), fundraising (Room to Read), working with babies (Mother’s Choice) or working with refugees. Just remember, while many would like to volunteer and give back, most volunteer roles require a fair amount of commitment of time and effort. There are very few ‘one off’ or short term volunteer opportunities available. These are generally seen as disruptive to the regular operation of volunteer agencies. Good luck in your search.

I’ve recently helped out with “Operation Smile”, non-profit organisation, where all volunteers are always welcome, whether you’re interested in helping out with admin, organising an event or helping with its medical team. It’s not as well known as some charities as all proceeds go back in to its missions rather than to advertising. Check out some of their worldwide missions on YouTube.

I’m 21, with a Hong Kong ID. I’m visiting in the summer for 2 months and I can speak English fluently. My Cantonese is fluent too but not as good as my English,I also can’t read or write Chinese. Is there any volunteer work around June – Aug ?

There are plenty of organisations that welcome English speaking volunteers including Rood to Read, Habitat for Humanity, Crossroads, etc. You need to approach them directly to find out whether they have any volunteer opportunities that match your time frame.

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